The Devil is in the Details
by Sam Winchesters Sideburns
Summary: Dr. Hannibal Lecter receives a new patient, 20-something Madeline Malinski. As he dwells into the demons haunting her mind she begins to discover the ones hiding in his. Will she be the next course of his meal or will she be the downfall he's be avoiding. The devil is in the details right?
1. Chapter 1

Madeline Malinski stared at the slip of paper in her trembling hands as she thought of the words her old psychiatrist told her, "Dr. Lecter is a mastermind, he can help you more than I ever could." Now that she thought of it, that's a really weird way of saying "You're too much so I'm passing you off to this guy." She at least hoped Dr. Lecter was better than her old psychiatrist. He was a short, stout kind of man with a gnarly mustache that made her feel as if she was telling all her problems to The Walrus from Alice in Wonderland. She actually told him that once, he wasn't too happy. From her spot in a round leather chair she left her imagination and memories behind to look around at Dr. Lecters waiting room. To the right there's a black leather love seat with those indentations that she suppose must be there for style reasons but she herself finds them uncomfortable beyond compare; next to that is another chair that is an exact replica of the one she was sitting in. The paintings stung across the walls are what kept her attention the most, over her shoulder was a giant painting of a scene she couldn't quite seem to wrap her head around. She stood up and moved in closer to get a better look. It's looks like some biblical work that she vaguely remembered seeing before. Suddenly it dawned on her, she was staring into the face of the infamous archangel Micheal as he smites down Lucifer. She looked over to the sword in Michaels hand seeing in her mind Micheal going through with the action and driving his sword through Lucifers throat. Shaking her head she tried to rid herself of the image when she notices something. There is a small black dot along the blade of Michaels sword. She reached up, ever so gently, to pluck off whatever that black dot it. The moment her fingers touch the painting she is interrupted by a soft but firm clearing of the throat.

"You should appreciate art, but never touch."

Gasping she turned to see the face of the proclaimed Dr. Hannibal Lecter. This man was a whole lot better than The Walrus. In a brown checkered coat, blue collard shirt and dark neck tie he was, without a doubt, the most sophisticated man she had probably ever seen. He had an air of elegance and something else to him. Power. He had elegance and power. "I'm so sorry, I know, I mean, I.. uh. There's some kind of _flaw _with your painting." She stumbled out between barely parted lips.  
"A flaw you say? Where?" He made his way toward her and stared intently at the artwork.  
"Right here," She said, pointing at the edge of the sword. "It just looks like a piece of fabric. I just wanted to fix it. I didn't mean anything by it I swear." She brought her eyes up to look at his face waiting to see what emotion flitted past it, would it be anger, annoyance, or nothing at all.  
"Ah, I see. Well thank you for noticing. The devil is in the details huh?" Was he trying to joke with her? Was that some weird pun? She laughed softly anyway, hoping to please. "I guess you can say it is." Picking the piece of fabric off and tossing it in the waste basket Hannibal finally looked Madeline straight on.  
"Let's get out of the waiting room and into our session. I'm glad to be meeting you Miss.."  
"Malinski. Madeline Malinski."  
"Pleasure" Extending his hands towards her and grasping it they shake hands and walk into his office. He closes the door behind him. They sit face to face as Hannibal leans over and asks

"What brings you to my office Madeline Malinski?"


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I'm fairly new at this so any type of criticism would be nice. I'd like to make a new chapter once a week but I can't make any promises (most of them will be on time I promise but I'm currently in the midst of looking for a job so..)

anyway here ya go!

* * *

She stared down at her hands and twiddled her thumbs. "How'd that fabric get on the painting?" She whispered hoping to keep the subject off herself for awhile.

"Pardon?"  
"How do you think the fabric got on the painting, I was just curious."  
"Must have just fallen off someone's shoulder and drifted onto the painting." He stated putting an end to her stalling.

_He thinks back to last weeks encounter. The arrogant business man in the black jacket. Hannibal doesn't like to kill in his office but there must always be exceptions to the rules. That was the third time that day the man had barged into his office unannounced and it needed to stop. The man was about as tall as him, thin but strong, demanding and harsh. He put up a much bigger fight than Hannibal would have liked causing his painting to come crashing on top of him. On the bright side his liver did make for an excellent meal._

"Now let's get back to you. Dr. Wolfsheim's report says you suffer from some forms of anxiety. Tell me about it."  
She took a deep and solid breath and began, as she hid her shaking hands in her lap.

"Having anxiety is like having the word sorry tattooed into your mouth. It feels as if it's the only thing you can possibly say every time you speak. You're s_orry _for bumping into the woman in front of you even though it was her fault. You're _sorry_ for your terrible hand writing and the way your hand clumsily travels across the page. It's like you're _sorry _for your own existence and you feel as if you're such an inconvenience to others. For the love of god, I mean the very first thing I said to you was ' I'm so sorry'. You spend ridiculous amounts of time preparing just to ask someone at work to loan you a pencil and even then the word sorry will find it's way in there and even after all that's said and done you will spend hours thinking about everything you've said to people. Laying in bed staring into the black void of your ceiling, rolling around begging your brain to stop reminding you of such trivial and embarrassing things you've done or said so you can actually get a good nights sleep. The worst of all is the shaking. I can't hand someone a piece of paper without looking like I'm having a seizure. Figures of authority are the worst." She released an empty attempt at a laugh "The more I shake around you the more I respect you."

"You must have respect for me right now then I'm assuming." He pointed out, as he looked down at her lap.  
A weak smile traveled across her face. "I guess you could say that, but I really just hate opening up to people. I'm paying you for it though so it's almost like I have to."  
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to."  
"That's the problem. I w_ant _to get better, I want to stop being so afraid of the tiniest things and therapy actually helps me, but..." Before she could finish her sentence there was a loud knock at the door.  
"If you excuse me a moment." Dr. Lecter got up and answered to door to see none other then the FBI agent Jack Crawford. To Madeline he looked like a man who hasn't had a good nights sleep in fifteen years. He had that 'there is a pressing matter I need you to attend to at this. exact. moment.' kind of look across his face. With his next words she knew her assumption was right.

"Dr. Lecter I hope I'm not interrupting anything too important." _No of course not, it's just me dealing with my silly mental stability. _She thought to herself.  
"Actually I am currently with a patient." Jack looked over Hannibals shoulder to see a girl trying very hard to ignore their conversation. He looked back to Hannibal.  
"We found another body from the ripper. Will is on his way to the scene and he requested you be there."  
"May I finish speaking to my patient, it's not as if the body will be going anywhere anytime soon."  
"Really Dr. Lecter I insist you come with me right now. We don't know when the ripper will strike again and time is not on our side."  
"Alright. Give me a few moments to wrap things up here and then we'll leave." Hannibal turned his back on Jack and walked towards Madeline.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Would you mind coming back tomorrow and we can finish what we've started here." He asked apologetically.  
"Of course not. I'll see you tomorrow." She made her way towards the door. She ducked her head to make sure she could avoid eye contact with the agent and practically scurried out of the door.

In the parking lot as she pulled out she looked over her shoulder to see Hannibal and agent Crawford racing down the street to discover whatever tragedy the ripper had left them.

* * *

AN: I actually kinda like the way this chapter played out. (My rant on anxiety is all from personal experience and let me tell you finally writing it out was pretty helpful.)

So yeah, hope you're excited to find out what the ripper has in store because boy I sure am.


	3. Chapter 3

AN:I know the newest episode of Hannibal is out but I started writing this after I saw the preview hearing of Dr. Gideons escape and thought I'd play off that.

* * *

They had be traveling for fifteen minutes in complete silence when Jack finally decided that he hated all the white noise.

"Sorry I pulled you away so quickly but under the circumstances," Jack stared hard into the road, never blinking.  
"It's alright I completely understand." Hannibal interrupted him. "May I ask where we're going?"  
"Tarsem elementary school. A teacher there was attacked by the ripper, Mrs. Karoline Stevenson." He listed the things he knew about her from the file he had read "28, worked at Tarsem as first grade teacher, married for 4 years to Robert Stevenson and we've already questioned the husband, as a precaution obviously, his alibi is solid, but we have no doubt this is the work of the ripper."

They pulled into the parking lot of decently sized red brick school house with large windows. As they walked from the car Jack continued.  
"Dr. Gideon escaped from prison the other night. We believe this is his first stop. What we don't know is why he would come here. That's why Will's here as you may already had guessed." He continued talking about the case and Hannibal half-listened until they made their way into the door of room 16 and looked at the carnage that laid on the floor.

The body laid face up her unseeing eyes glazed over, forever staring into the tiled ceiling and the world that laid beyond. Her hair was spread around her like a black halo that gave the impression of a dark fallen angel. Her pale skin once almost white was now covered in blotches and sprays of deep reds. Her body surrounded by blood. Her hands were cut and bruised, staples shoved into the fine layer of the back of her hands and the top of her feet, small puncture wounds filled with ink lined her arms and legs. The legs of chairs had been broken off and shoved into various points of her body. Scissors, staples, sharped plastic rulers, shards of broken metal, anything that was even remotely shape enough was plunged into the womans body. She was surrounded by agents of all kinds taking pictures and using cotton swabs to pick up anything they could, all wearing ten different shades of disgust and fear on their faces. None of them could compare to the fear forever captured in hers.

"She's missing her heart, liver, and kidneys. Her nails were clipped after she was killed so I can't seem to find any skin, there's no saliva, there's basically no way to identify the guy." Beverly Katz announced to Jack.  
_Tonights meal actually. Thought Hannibal._

"If you excuse me." Hannibal gave a curt nod to Jack and left him to stand by Will.

"Such a shame isn't it?"  
"It's disgusting, she's an elementary school teacher for Christ's sake. What could she have possibly done to make the ripper come after her." Will retorted and turned his head away from the scene.

_Hannibal looks back at the events that unfolded yesterday. _He had witnessed her scream at a poor small blonde girl until she started crying. He had been driving past the school house at around 3:20 pm which is, coincidentally, when the kids were being let out. From his car he could hear the screaming at the front door. He looked over to see a tiny blonde helpless girl being scolded by the woman. The little girl reminded him of someone he left far behind a long long time ago. He could understand the scolding of a teacher to a student but this womans words were becoming vile and the girl was starting to cry. He remembered the sudden rage he felt and knew that this woman was truly sickening. As the child left and the woman headed back into the building he drove his car around until he could find the window to her classroom. He parked his car and waited for the school to empty. She was the last teacher left inside the building. He parked his car carefully behind a couple of large hedges and walked around the building until he could find his way in. The opportunity came to him in the shape of an elderly janitor. He loudly knocked on the back door and waited patiently for the old man to open it.  
"I'm so sorry to bother you but my daughter likes to bring her favorite doll with her to school and she accidentally left it in her locker. Would it be alright if I got it for her. She won't sleep without it." The old man looked up and down Hannibal, sizing up whether or not he should trust him.  
"I supposed but be quick about it. If any one knows I let you in here I'll lose my job." The man said in a gruffly voice.  
"Thank you so much." Hannibal said before taking the mans head and slamming into the wall knocking him unconscious. He made his way to the classroom he suspected the woman would be in. He found her sitting at her desk grading papers. He opened the door and walked in. She looked up, eyes widening in shock then she furrowed her brows in annoyance.  
"Excuse me sir but do you realize what time it is you can't be in he-" Her word were cut off as Hannibal swiftly slammed her head into the desk. Her body fell to the floor but she recovered just in time to see Hannibal screw the small bottom off one of the students chair, breaking off the leg and bringing it towards her. She tried to get up and run but he kicked her down again and brought down the sharp mental of the leg on her stomach. She began to scream hoping that Albert the janitor would hear her despite his age. Hannibal grabbed the stapler and pressed his knee into her arm, immobilizing it as he began to press the staples into her hand, finishing with the left he began on the right. She never stopped screaming. 

"Doctor Lecter, are you alright?" Jack put his hand on Hannibals shoulder.  
"Perfectly fine Jack. Just lost in thought." Hannibal dismissed Jacks concerns.  
"Everybody out! Will needs space." Jack boomed. Hannibal and all the agents made their way towards the door but not before Hannibal heard the softest whisper escape Will's mouth.

"This is my design."

* * *

I feel like I should go shower after this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: So so sorry it's late!

_**(Spoilers)** _OK LAST WEEKS EPISODE ABIGAIL HOBBS GUYS I'M STILL EMOTION ABOUT IT AND I WILL BE FOREVER. I REALLY HOPE SHE ISN'T DEAD BUT SHE PROBABLY IS OH GOD. THIS WEEK IS THE SEASON FINALE WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO. (write this fic on time that's what, that is, if I can see through my tears.)

* * *

Will closed his eyes and let the pendulum swing in his mind slowly cleaning up the crime scene little by little. The blood dried up, the various objects left her body, she sat at her desk. He opened his eyes and began to speak softly to himself.

"I_ am filled with anger as I enter building. Conning my way past the old janitor I make my way to the class room where I know she'll be. She's angry. She knows I shouldn't be there. This only fuels my rage. I slam her head into her desk a slight feeling of joy washes over me. This is personal."_

In his mind he watched himself as the ripper forcing the woman to the floor and doing unspeakable things to her. Watched himself pin her arms and legs down and slowly staple them. Watched himself as he rammed anything in the classroom sharp enough through her body. He listened to her scream.

"Will. Will! WILL!" Jack shook his shoulders violently. Wills eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went limp. Jack turned his head towards the door and began yelling at anyone and everyone.  
"I need an ambulance. **Now!**"  
Everyone ran about, calling the paramedics, asking Jack if Will was okay, doing anything they thought was helpful even though in truth it was just annoying. The only one who didn't move an inch was Hannibal. He stood in the door frame and watched as Wills mind collapsed in on itself. A small barely-there smirk began to form on Hannibals face. "_Are you insisting I'm more interested in the madness than the man?" _He was suddenly reminded of the words he spoke to his own psychiatrist and colleague Dr. Bedelia Du Mauier. He liked to think that he wasn't so primitive, that the madness was not all that he cared about. He in a way did consider Will a friend and in his own way he wanted what was best for him, but he could not deny the stronger more persuasive place in himself that wanted to see the limits of Will Grahams mind. The chaos that unfolded in front of him was amusing to say the least. Funny, he thought, how when the life of someone people found valuable was at risk they will do just about anything but when it is the life of someone they do not know or cherish it is so easy to walk away. Will Graham was very valuable. A mind like his could not be compromised for anything else in this world. A mind like Will Grahams needed to be protected and studied.

Hannibal insisted on being in the ambulance with Will. Despite the restraints Will still withered and shook, Hannibal placed his hand on Wills forearm hoping that it would help Will control his body.  
"He seems to be having a mild seizure." He said to no one in particular.  
"That doesn't seem to bother you." Remarked one of the paramedics who held down Will's other arm.  
"I said it was mild."

* * *

For the next couple of hours Hannibal sat next to Wills bed while he slept. He waited until Will's breathing became regular and his body stopped convulsing to leave. He patted Wills arm as a silent 'I'll be back' and went home to make something for Will when he woke up. At home Hannibal went through his recipe booklet and found Silkie Chicken Soup he decided that this dish didn't call for his 'special ingredient' because he felt that there wasn't enough time. Will needed him now.

Hannibal walked into Wills hospital room and was very surprised, to say the least, to see Madeline standing at the foot of the bed and talking to Will. He stood in the doorway a moment and watched them. She made a joke and Will and her shared a laugh. He noticed that both her hands were behind her back shaking. "I would have never guessed you two knew each other." He mentioned as he walked in. Their heads quickly turned towards the door shocked looks splayed across their faces.  
"I-uh we don't exactly. I was here visiting my grandpa he's-uh in the room next door. I was just about to leave when-uh Will here started calling out and no one was here so I figured I'd come help. Uh. so-" She tried to keep herself from prattling on but couldn't seem to get herself to stop. "How do you two know each other."  
Madeline learned at a young age that the best way to get yourself to stop talking is to ask questions.

"He is a colleague and patient of mine." Hannibal said at the same time that Will said "We work together."  
"You can work with a patient?" She questioned on.  
"Well I'm not officially his patient, he was assigned to me by the FBI." Will really did not want to talk about this. Changing the subject he looked at Hannibal and noticed two bowls in his hands.  
"Did you bring me soup?"  
"Ah yes Silkie chicken in a broth." He goes on to list the rest of the ingredients and how it was prized in China for it's medicinal value. Madeline watched silently as they continued their strange dance, mulling over topics and small talk. Awkward at first but became more friendly over time. She stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.  
"I should go." She started before she was cut off by Hannibal.  
"Nonsense, I was the one who interrupted the two of you, please continue your conversation." Hannibal placed his hand on the seat next to him and patted it, inviting her to sit. She sat down not because she necessarily wanted to but she felt that it would be rude if she left.

Distraught from the extra company she sat there and listened to the conversation between Hannibal and Will. Chiming in with a few words now and again. Although as time went on she began to come out of her shell and actually join their conversation. She was surprised to find that she wasn't so different from these two men, both had lost her parents at a very young age like herself. Her parents died in a car crash when she was eight. She lived with her grandparents and now her grandpa was holding on to all he had. She wanted to talk to Hannibal about it but she didn't want to do it in front of Will. It was an odd feeling, sitting in this room sharing a joke with two people she barely knew, knowing that tomorrow she would see one of them again under completely different circumstances. She almost felt as if she could make something out of this. She hadn't mentioned yet to Hannibal that she had just moved to Baltimore from Chicago and had only made a handful of acquaintances. Of course she knew that being friends with your psychiatrist wasn't an option but Will seemed more of a likely candidate. She liked the fact that Will seemed as disconnected and scared of this world as she was. She had finally found someone who was more like her.

Visiting hours were coming to a close and Madeline knew that the moment she shared with them was over. Hannibal left a few minutes earlier but not before reminding Madeline and Will of their sessions tomorrow. Will thanked her for coming into his room when no one else would. Madeline took a piece of paper out of her bag and wrote her number on it.  
"In case you ever want to just talk again. It was nice meeting you." Too scared by her sudden audacity she left without waiting for Wills response. Will watched her leave smiling a bit to himself at her awkwardness. Will placed the number on the bedside table and began drifting off to sleep where the strange stag was waiting for him. Again. The nightmare had been repeating itself for a week now. He was afraid that he would never figure it out. All he remembered was seeing Hannibals face over and over and over again.

* * *

**No. I am not starting a romantic thing between Madeline and Will. **


	5. Chapter 5

AN: The dream sequence was inspired by this artwork I found on tumblr by user nowwheresmynut (just add **nowwheresmynut . tumblr ** to see it) **post/52028025412/what-do-you-see-with-many-thanks- to-schaudwen**. I love it and mad respect to the artist.

(writers block is a bitch.)

* * *

Will rolled around in his bed, hands and legs wrapped up in the sheets. A cold sweat making it's way across his body. His hands wildly grabbed at anything in it's reach. He shivered and shook and nearly kick over the bedside table with his erratic movements. He looked like complete hell from the outside but from the inside he was more helpless than anyone could imagine. His thoughts wildly spun out of control and even in sleep he could not escape his demons. In fact in his sleep is when his demons became more powerful, more manipulative, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. Things that seemed so real one moment turned to dust in the next. Wills mind was like a plane who's only passengers were regret and empty empathy. The plane, stuck by lightning, was now spiraling down into the oceans of self loathing and doubt. Hands clawing to the light that lay just beyond the waters surface.

In the dream Will saw himself running through a dense forest. He didn't know if he was running to or from something. His hands were shaking and bloody, cuts and bruises lined his arms. Bloodshot eyes looked up to the sky and watched as it twisted and turned violently. The lights ever changing between blues and greens, dark reds and black. There were no clouds, no stars, no silver linings. Behind him a twig snapped, he turned his head but all he saw was the subtle rustle of a bush. Tensed up and ready to run Will pulled his fists in front of his face ready to fight if all else failed. Another rustle was heard from the other side of him. He turned and again he saw nothing. He ran. He ran so hard and so fast he felt as if his knees were going to shatter but he kept on. When he could no longer run he collapsed into the dirt and breathed in it's earthy scent. This was the only calm moment he felt he would ever have. It reminded him of home, of his dogs, and fishing on the lake. All of that was shortly disrupted by the sound of footsteps. Knowing he could no longer run he covered his vulnerable neck with his hands and braced himself for the worse. The footsteps slowed and he could feel the pressure of something standing over him, could almost feel as it went down to his ear and whispered. It sounded like the wind.

"See."

Quickly he rolled over and looked into the dead pale eyes of Garret Jacob Hobbs, which then quickly became the bright blue of Abigail Hobbs. The rest of the illusion began to take shape, first with a scarf, followed by straight dark brown hair and Abigails body. With a gust of wind the scarf flew into the breeze revealing an open gash. She bled, drenching her clothes and hair and it began pooling around her feet. She bled until it had pooled around Will. Suddenly it stopped. All that blood turned into lush green grass and the illusion began to take shape again. Starting with wavy black hair.  
_"No" Will thought. "Anything but this."  
_It opened it's mouth to speak. "YOU PROMISED HE WOULDN'T GET TOO CLOSE." It wailed over and over again, tears streaming down it's face.  
"YOU PROMISED."  
"YOU PROMISED."  
"YOU PROMISED."  
"**STOP IT.**" Will screamed as loudly as his lungs would allow. His glasses falling to the ground with his outburst. He began to sob. "Stop it." he pleaded through a choked up whisper.  
Hearing this the grass around his feet went back to its original form. His hands once touching soft grass now became covered in blood. He reached down to grab his glasses when he stopped, feeling hot breath on the nape of his neck. Staring back at him through the blood was Hannibals reflection.

"I feel like I dragged you into my world" Will said  
"No, I got here on my own," Hannibal replied, followed by a whisper, "But I appreciate the company."

The reflections in the water changed again. From Mariam Lass to Marissa Schurr, flashing faster and faster through the faces of people Will had come to realize were Hannibals victims. Will threw on his glasses and turned over ready to finally face the monster behind him. Hannibal stood in front of Will so closely their noses almost touched.

"What do you see?" Hannibal asked.  
"I see-"

Will woke up in a cold sweat, arms and legs wrapped in the sheets. His pillow was soaked. Staring at his ceiling he thought over what had just happened to him. He could finally remember it now. _I remember it all. He thought. _Nearly falling out of bed he slammed the nurses station button and yelled for help. A few seconds later an out of breath nurse ran into his room asked what the emergency was.  
"I need a pen and paper. Right now." She brought him what he needed and left as he hurriedly began writing down everything he could remember from the dream.

"I see you." He whispered


End file.
